LITMIR.BIZ

From intellectual inquiry to spiritual practice to social reform, Pietism has exerted an enormous influence on various forms of Christianity and on Western culture more generally. However, this contribution remains largely unacknowledged or misunderstood in Anglo-American contexts because negative stereotypes–some undeserved, others deserved–tend to cast Pietism as a quietistic and sectarian form of religion interested in a narrow set of individualistic and spiritual concerns.
In this volume, scholars from a variety of disciplines offer a corrective to this misunderstanding, highlighting the profound theological, cultural, and spiritual contribution of Pietism and what they term the «pietist impulse.» The essays in this volume demonstrate that Pietism was a movement of great depth and originality that was not merely concerned with the «pious soul and its God.» Rather, Pietists were from the beginning concerned with issues of social and ecclesial reform, the nature of history and historical inquiry, the shape and purpose of theology and theological education, the missional task of the church, and social justice and political engagement. In addition, the essays collected here fruitfully raise the question of the ongoing relevance of Pietism and the «pietist impulse» for contemporary problems and questions across disciplines and in the church at large.

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Out of a deep concern for our nation and its drift away from its Christian roots, Glover Shipp presents powerful proofs that it was founded on faith in God. He begins with the earliest colonial document, the Mayflower Charter, and traces the God theme throughout our history. In doing so, he draws on historical documents, monuments, songs, poems, and statements by well-known figures in our society. Unlike some other books of this kind, In God We Trust . . . or Do We? presents inaugural speeches by many of our presidents, private correspondence by leading figures in our nation, the constitutions of our fifty states, Supreme Court decisions that influence church-state relations, and references to God on our national monuments, in our national hymns, and in our poetry. Above all, Shipp points out the inconsistency between interpretations of The Establishment Clause and what really goes on in government. You will find In God We Trust . . . or Do We? a valuable resource for considering and defending the spiritual principles upon which our nation was founded.

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The Bible promises the renewal of all creation–a new heaven and earth–based on the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For centuries this promise has been sidelined or misunderstood because of the church's failure to grasp the full meaning of biblical teachings on creation and new creation. The Bible tells the story of the broken and restored relationship between God, people, and land, not just God and people. This is the full gospel, and it has the power to heal the church's long theological divorce between earth and heaven. Jesus' resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit is the key, and the church as Christ's body is the primary means by which God is reconciling all things through Jesus Christ. Jesus' ultimate healing of all creation is the great hope and promise of the gospel, and he calls the church to be his healing community now through evangelism, discipleship, and prophetic mission.

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In 1976, a twenty-three year old German girl, named Anneliese Michel, died following months of exorcism sessions. Despite the fact that she had been medically diagnosed with epilepsy and manic depressive psychosis, two priests conducted numerous exorcism sessions and ignored her mental, medical, and physical condition. Doctors would later state that her cause of death was starvation and dehydration. Unfortunately, Ms. Michel's tragic death due to misdiagnosed demonic possession and negligently applied exorcism was neither the first nor the last of such negligence to occur. Complete familiarity with the spiritual elements of demonical possession and attack is the sole focus of most demonologists, exorcists, and clerical members of Christianity. Few clerics have a sufficient understanding of psychiatric conditions that may mimic the symptoms of demonic possession. The result has been catastrophic for many innocent people over the centuries. The overlooking or ignoring of a person's medical and psychiatric condition is the primary culprit behind misdiagnosed possession and botched exorcisms resulting in death or serious bodily injury. Father John Duffey, a New American Catholic priest, exposes the truth behind the young girl's death and renders a standardized approach to properly investigating suspected demoniacal possession, determining the existence of possession, and in the safe execution of exorcism/deliverance acceptable to virtually all denominations of the Christian faith. This book brings psychology, medicine, faith, legality, and safety together for the first time in order to enhance evaluation accuracy, demonic expulsion, wellbeing for the afflicted, and safety for all involved parties.

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In this centennial year of China's 1911 Revolution, Volume 3 in the Salt and Light series includes the life stories of influential Chinese who played a political or military role in the new Republic that emerged. Recovering this precious legacy of faith in action shows the deep roots of the revival of Christian faith in China today.

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After a half-century of activism, John McConnell, the true founder of Earth Day, here relates his global promotion of peace, justice, and Earth care. Following the Kennedy assassination, McConnell's Minute for Peace gained worldwide attention. This led to his Earth Day and other initiatives aimed at promoting people and planet. In this book, he shares the views that garnered support during the environmental movement from 1969 onward, and that have inspired followers for forty years at annual Earth Day ceremonies at the UN and cities across the globe.
John McConnell coined the term Earth Day in 1968, proposed its celebration on the spring equinox to the City of San Francisco in October 1969, and announced it in November at a UNESCO Conference. The City responded by hosting the first Earth Day on March 21, 1970.
Margaret Mead, UN Secretary-General U Thant, President Ford, and thirty-three Nobel laureates supported McConnell's Earth Day, and thirty-six worldwide dignitaries signed McConnell's Earth Day Proclamation, supporting Earth Day on the spring equinox, an annual planetary holiday linking people everywhere without regard to politics, culture, national border, or religion.
In 1957, after Sputnik, McConnell promoted the Star of Hope, a satellite devoted to peace. This effort sparked his origination of Earth Day, the Earth Flag, Earth Trustees, and the Earth Magna Charta. He worked with UN officials and other leaders to overcome differences and build common ground for peace, aiming to ensure our planet's future and human survival. This book chronicles his global mission, his life journey, and his unique contributions toward a peaceful and cherished planet.

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It's a simple claim, really – that for Christians, «being a Christian» should be their primary allegiance and identity. For those who proclaim Jesus as Lord, this identity should supersede all others, and this loyalty should trump all lesser ones. It may be a simple claim, but it is a controversial one for many people, Christians and non-Christians alike. The Borders of Baptism uses the idea of solidarity among Christians as a lens through which to view politics, economics, and culture. It offers Christians a fresh perspective capable of moving beyond sterile and dead-end debates typical of debates on issues ranging from immigration and race to war, peace, and globalization. The Borders of Baptism invites Christians of all traditions to reflect on the theological and political implications of first «being a Christian» in a world of rival loyalties. It invites readers to see what it might mean to be members of a community broader than the largest nation-state; more pluralistic than any culture in the world; more deeply rooted in the lives of the poor and marginalized than any revolutionary movement; and more capable of exemplifying the notion of ;e pluribus unum' than any empire past, present, or future.

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Religious themes, concepts, imagery, and terminology have featured prominently in much recent science fiction. In the book you hold in your hands, scholars working in a range of disciplines (such as theology, literature, history, music, and anthropology) offer their perspectives on a variety of points at which religion and science fiction intersect. From Frankenstein, by way of Christian apocalyptic, to Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and much more, and from the United States to China and back again, the authors who contribute to this volume serve as guides in the exploration of religion and science fiction as a multifaceted, multidisciplinary, and multicultural phenomenon.

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In Augustine and the Fundamentalist's Daughter, Margaret Miles weaves her memoirs together with reflections on Augustine's Confessions. Having read and reread Augustine's Confessions, in admiration as well as frustration, over the past thirty-five years, Miles brings her memories of childhood and youth in a fundamentalist home into conversation with Augustine's effort to understand his life. The result is a fascinating work of autobiographical and theological reflection. Moreover, this project brings together a rare combination of insights on fundamentalists' convictions and habits of mind, as well as on differences among fundamentalists. Such reflections are especially urgent in this time in which fundamentalism is prominent in political and social discourse.

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Thomas Merton was arguably the twentieth century's most widely published and widely read spiritual writer. This book explores Merton's prophetic writings and experience as they offer guidance for spiritual seekers in their search to experience God, to simplify their lives, to live more humanly, and to shape Christian community in the face of alienation, consumerism, noise, and technology. The book includes parts of three previously unpublished conference contributions by Merton on technology.

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